This week's action was dominated by The Northern Echo League Cup second round, and it was business as usual for Peppers Draughting Services as they ran up a 13-1 victory against third division rivals Emcor.

Stu Fawcett notched Emcor's consolation goal, but man-of-the-match Mark Stephenson notched five of the PDS goals, whilst Michael Carter (3), Graham Pepper (2), Gary Williamson, Lee Hammond and Dave Turnbull set up a quarter final tie against rivals Spraire RA - a team who many PDS players turned out for last season.

Spraire had to come from behind in their second round tie against third division Haughton BAT though, as Karl Lockwood took advantage of a defensive mistake to give Haughton an unexpected lead. However, Spraire showed just why they are a first division outfit as their class told all over the park, resulting in Danny Richmond and Richard Tutty notching a goal apiece to put Spraire 2-1 up at the break. Haughton were up for a battle though, and Danny Lockwood struck again to equalise after he broke the Spraire offside trap. With Nev Fuller orchestrating things in midfield though, Spraire soon regained the lead via an Anthony McMaster goal before Fuller himself added a fourth, five minutes later. Andrew Blenkhorn then sealed the tie as he ran half the length of the pitch with the ball before coolly finishing to seal a 5-2 victory and set up a titanic battle against PDS.

Elsewhere, AFC Orange ran out as comfortable victors against fellow division two promotion rivals Bishop Auckland Derby as goals from Mark Finn, Chris Wardell and Kev Kokes secured a 3-0 victory. Orange will face a tricky tie in the next round, however, as they have been drawn against Division One champions-elect Coundon Foresters. However, Coundon only just limped into the quarters as they had to rely on a Stephen Butler golden goal in the second period of extra time to get past Shuttle & Loom 1-0.

East End WMC are also through to the cup quarter-finals as they cruised past Canney Hill 11-2, with Neil Tarrant top scoring with five of the hosts' goals. Neil Jackson also bagged a hat-trick for the EastEnders, with Neil Godfrey (2) and Stephen Johnson also getting their names on the scoresheet.

Thomas Hibbits and Andy Thompson notched for Canney Hill, but the result was never in doubt as the ClubMen showed the class that has taken them into the top three in Division One. East End's opponents in the quarter finals will be Hope Inn of the third division, who progressed to the quarter finals with an impressive 6-0 victory over an All Stars side who have already secured promotion to Division One next season. Trenton Hewitt top-scored for the Hope with four of their goals, whilst Phil Sheridan notched the other two in the surprise result of the round.

The final quarter-final will see Newton Aycliffe Sports Club face Nestfield Club in a battle between two of the top division's big guns. The Sports Club secured their place with a close fought 2-1 victory over third division Middleton St George Cricket Club whilst Nestfield rolled out as 9-0 victors over The Brinkburn. Gary Mitchell top-scored for Nestfield with six as they raced into a 6-0 half-time lead. Lee Jenkinson, Adi Weston and Dave Raine also found the back of the Brinkburn net, as Stuart Wayper in the Brinkburn goal had a personal nightmare - particularly when he allowed a Carl Green back-pass roll under his foot and into the net, a la Peter Enckleman.

Elsewhere, in Division's Two and Three there were some league games that took place. At the top of Division Two, Killinghall Arms closed the gap on All Stars to nine points as they kept up their unbeaten record with a convincing 5-0 victory over Jack Horners. An early strike from Phil Reynolds, followed by a Michael Layton brace, saw the Killy go in 3-0 up at half time. The second half saw much of the same with the Killy laying siege to the Jack's goal, but some fine goalkeeping from Ted Halstead kept the score at 3-0 until the final 15 minutes when substitute Martin Hall's fine cross fell to the feet of Danny Fleary who made the score 4-0. Fleary then struck his second in the final five minutes as the Killy secured their promotion to Division One in style.

Meanwhile, a hotly disputed penalty from Peter Wilkinson gave Yates Wine Lodge a 1-0 victory over Copper Beech DCS to maintain the Lodgers push for promotion, whilst Royal British Legion virtually assured their safety with a 4-1 victory over struggling Grey Horse despite the first half ending 1-1.

The second half belonged to veteran Legion hitman Trevor Cook though, as he bagged a hat trick as the Horse began to tire to secure the three points. Mick Meredith also got his name on the score-sheet for the Legion, whilst Mark Carter struck the Grey Horse goal.

In the remaining second division game, Green Dragon plunged Sadberge into further relegation trouble as they picked up a 3-2 victory over the bottom side despite only having nine men for the entire game. Fred Wood (2) and Dave Abdale notched the goals for the Dragon with Robert Hall and Gary Bowman striking Sadberge's goals.

In Division Three, AXA Insurance kept their third successive clean sheet as they beat Sherwoods 5-0. Dean Scott opened the scoring within five minutes and strike-partner Andy Roote had a glorious chance to double the lead from the penalty spot soon after but smashed his effort against the post. Scott eventually doubled AXA's tally midway through the half with a fine turn and shot into the bottom corner.

Andy Roote, back in the starting line-up after his five-goal haul the previous week, made up for his spot-kick miss as he went on to hit a second half hat-trick. First he produced a cool finish from a Scott through-ball, then he latched onto a long clearance from 'keeper Luke Stott before coolly lobbing the ball over Phil McPherson in the Sherwoods goal. In the final five minutes Roote completed his hat-trick, and the scoring, as he notched his 13th goal in 11 games to make the score 5-0 to AXA.

Elsewhere, FR Aviation beat promotion rivals Drinkfield United 2-1 to stay on course for promotion to Division Two, whilst Newton Cap's good run of form continued as they beat The Falchion 3-2. At Hundens Lane Matt Snowdon's four-goal haul set Royal Oak on the way to a 7-5 away victory over AFC Aruba. Stu Boughen, Carl Mansfield and Mike Donnelly also got themselves on the score-sheet as the Oak produced one of their highest scores of the season, whilst Dale Sanderson (2), Ben Perriton (2) and Robbie Corrance notched for Aruba.

In the only other third division game, Pizza Perfekt's good run of form continued with a well deserved 5-2 victory over The Cricketers. Michael Weston notched a first half hat trick and Mark Armstrong added a fourth to give the Pizzaboyz a commanding 4-1 lead at half time, with Andy Cummins notching The Cricketers goal. In the second half both defences got on top of their game, and man-of-the-match Ian Wake nearly capped a superb defensive performance with a fine goal as his turn and shot from 30 yards went just wide of the post. The Pizzaboyz did eventually get their fifth goal though, and as usual it came from the boot of top-scorer Michael Weston before Dave Colley struck a consolation for the Cricketers.

Finally, Sunday saw the much-postponed Darlington & Stockton Times Division One Cup semi-final between Hurworth Albion and Bishop Auckland Cricket Club.

In an evenly matched game, the first half ended goal-less, despite both teams having shots cleared off the line in contentious circumstances. The game really kicked into life in the second half though, as Hurworth forced the game and took a two-goal lead within 15 minutes of the re-start thanks to Simon Middlemiss and Darren Tate. The Cricket Club weren't going to lie down without a fight though, and they soon got back onto level terms thanks to goals from Terry Garside and substitute Alan Meadows. However, Hurworth's class eventually shone through, and Darren Tate scored a fine individual goal to put the Albion back in the lead before Neil Bell wrapped up a 4-2 victory, and secured a May 4 final appearance against Newton Aycliffe Sports Club.